This material was received in a message on the Concrete Change list on February 12. Concrete Change, originally formed by Eleanor Smith, has been promoting accessibility and visitability for many years.

Viz-Green–Sustainability Connection Affirmed by Leading Environmental Group Visitability–Sustainability Connection Recognized by LEED

LEED, a project of the U.S. Green Building Council, has achieved widespread success certifying commercial buildings as environmentally friendly when they meet specified requirements. Now LEED, with its new pilot program LEED–ND, has moved beyond commercial buildings to whole neighborhoods.

Notably for people in the home access movement, LEED-ND awards a point for developments that build single-family homes with basic access. (Single family homes are the main building type still built by the hundreds of thousands with no access features, continuing the age-old barriers that impose drudgery and social isolation.) It is encouraging that people are beginning to see that Visitability is connected to green building practices. Basic access at the time of construction decreases the waste of energy and materials necessitated by retrofits, and makes neighborhoods more sustainable by enabling social interaction, "aging in place," and disability inclusion.

To receive the "Universal Accessibility" point, the builder includes, in at least 20% of the single–family homes, the features required by federal law in apartment buildings–––a zero step entrance on an accessible route, wide interior doors, maneuvering space in bathrooms and kitchens, blocking in bathroom walls to allow future grab bars, reachable electrical controls, and a step–free path of travel through the first floor of the home.

Intent

Enable the widest spectrum of people, regardless of age or ability, to more easily participate in their community life by increasing the proportion of areas that are usable by people of diverse abilities.

Requirements

For projects with residential components:

For each residential unit type developed, design 20% (and not less than one) of each type to comply with the accessible design provisions of the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (Rehabilitation Act), as applicable. Separate residential unit types include: single–family, duplex, triplex, multi–unit row or townhouses, and mixed-use buildings that include residential units. (Compliance for multi–family buildings of 4 or more units is already a regulatory requirement.)

Eleanor Smith of Concrete Change and Ed Steinfeld of the IDEA Center at SUNY, Buffalo, were among those working on the committee to bring this about. Not all their recommendations were followed, but they welcome this early recognition that basic access is green.

The LEED–ND initiative is a joint venture of the Congress for the New Urbanism, the US Green Building Council, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. To read the LEED–ND document, go to
http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=2310
To read about the point awarded for houses with basic access, go to page 83.

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